Global climate change is melting the ice above the Arctic Circle, creating a rush to control new shipping lanes and untold riches beneath the sea. Will the Russian flag beneath the North Pole be a "Sputnik moment" for the United States? Also, another recall on toys from China, and America's "bumbling" use of bad guys in the war on terror.

FROM THIS EPISODE

Global climate change is melting the ice above the Arctic Circle, creating a rush to control new shipping lanes and untold riches beneath the sea. Will the Russian flag beneath the North Pole be a "Sputnik moment" for the United States? We hear about domestic politics and the potential for international conflict. Also, Mattel issues a second recall on toys from China and, on Reporter's Notebook, the Pentagon and an international arms dealer famous for working both sides of the fence.

Russian adventurer and Duma deputy Artur Chilingarov holds up a photo of the flag he planted in the North Pole to lay claim to potential natural resources. Photo: Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images

CNN calls it "an irony that even Al Gore might appreciate." As global warming causes the polar icecaps to recede, frozen oceans become navigable and undiscovered oil and natural gas becomes accessible. Russia's most famous Arctic explorer, Artur Chilingarov, has placed a flag on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper is out on the Arctic Ocean making plans for an Army training center and a deep-water port. Melting ice may free up both the Northwest Passage and one quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and natural gas. It's the Wild, Wild West all over again. Will the US assert its national interests? What are the prospects for international conflict?

In the 1990's, Victor Bout was a target of US intelligence, which wanted to end his role in illegal arms traffic worldwide. But even after public revelations about his notorious activities, Bout became a weapons contractor for the Pentagon. In 2004, four of Bout's planes were supposed to ship 99 tons of AK-47's and other weapons from Bosnia to Iraq. There's no record they ever got there. Stephen Braun of the Los Angeles Times is co-author of Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes and the Man Who Makes War Possible.

Guests:Stephen Braun, National Correspondent for the Los Angeles Times